OLOGY OLOGY blurb. I S S U E 1 1 | F e b 2 0 2 2 PSYCH PSYCH OLOGY OLOGY H H
The Benefits of Technology for Psychology, Mainly Mental Health 4 Does AI Help With Curing Mental Illnesses? 8 Can AI Take Over The Role of Psychologists And Therapists? 12 Teletherapy: Therapy on - the Go! 17 Why Are We So Afraid of Artificial Intelligence? 21 Humans Any day Over Technology 24 the line up
Perhaps, if you ask your parents or grandparents, it’s obvious that there is so much that changed within the last 5 decades. Similarly, in about 20-25 years, imagine therapy and psychological interventions done on you by a machine/AI system. How do you feel about it? Do you think AI could ever replace human brain, empathy and/or understanding capabilities to react to someone seeking help, efficiently? When my fellow team members were presented with this thought and asked to write about the same, they researched and reverted to me suggesting that it was very difficult to find information that is credible. Evidently, very limited studies are available for understanding if AI could help people suffering from mental health issues/who seeks help. This is possibly because i) such a system is yet to be established or ii) many people have not thought about this level of development which is far off in the future. Whatever the reason might be, I am glad to present to you the February issue of Blurb where we worked together to understand “Psychology in AI/Technology. I hope you enjoy the
EditorSebareadGeminChief
from the editors
Hello readers, Have you ever thought about how dramatically our daily lives have changed with developing technological inventions?
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Many studies showed that how the development of technology has helped many patients and how it positively effects mental health. For instance, there are between 10,000 to 20,000 apps which makes it easier for anyone to access psychologists, mental health counselors and mental health services. Particularly, the usage of these mental health related apps and virtual treatments have been increased since the outbreak of COVID 19. Indeed, the global pandemic have led to detrimental consequences for mental health and patients prefer virtual treatments because of social distancing. According to Fierce Healthcare, virtual therapy increased up to 302% compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic and around 90% of mental health app users have reported positive feedbacks about their
-Negin Naghshineh
We are all familiar with a popular word as “Technology”. It has become a main part of our lives and it is finding more space day after day. In fact, technology has changed our lifestyles. We might hear a lot about the negative effects of technology on wellbeing, mental and psychical health. There are many studies showed that technology, especially smart phones leads to issues such as eyestrain, headache, muscle pain, neck pain, sleep disorders and it increases the risk of subjecting to cardiovascular diseases and the two types of diabetes. However, what about the other side of the coin?
The Benefits of Technology for Psychology,
Mainly Mental Health
Even though people may more consider the drawbacks of technology, it has proven that technology has many advantages and it plays an important role in psychology.
“although technology can result in psychical and mental issues, it has a significant impact on psychology discipline”
In conclusion, although technology can result in psychical and mental issues, it has a significant impact on psychology discipline and it has provided many services, particularly during the COVID 19 pandemic. Mental health related apps, text messaging platform, social media and online surveys have helped numerous patients, psychologists and researchers. Due to all these technological services, patients all around the world can have easy access to mental health services. Thus, let us thank for technology holding our hands!
example, self-report surveys and facial expression analysis are done through online survey platforms. Also, mental health researchers use digital platforms in their studies to measure the well-being of participants.
”Searchingonlinecanbeanexerciseforthe mentalanditcanstrengthenneuralactivities.”
provided online psychological counseling and provided online mental health education through some known social media platforms, such as WeChat and TikTok. Thus, we can give a big thank to technology for providing all these opportunities for people all round the world with the aim to bring about a better life.
emotional health. The aim of these app is to train selfmanagement, illnessmanagement, thinking skills and coping strategies.
Furthermore, imaging scans of brain has showed that old people who are not familiar with internet and when they try to learn online searching, their brain activity increases. In the other words, a simply searching online can be an exercise for mental and it can strengthen neural activities. Technology may have also facilitated the work of clinicians in reaching population, collecting data and doing researches. One of the main advantages of the digital revolution has been the ability to store, access and retrieve patients’ data from anywhere and anytime in minimal time. Many experiments are done through online process; for
In addition to apps, textmessaging platforms can also help people in coping with mental health problems evoked by COVID-19. It is showed that textmessaging services leads to improvement in mental health and disease management. Besides, these platforms are inexpensive and they are useful for low-income populations such as ‘Healthy SMS’ platform. Also, during the global pandemic, social media was a significant opportunity for people to share their experience and for health professionals to share accurate information with their patients and public. For instance, psychologists share data via psychological podcasts, videos and animations on social media. During the global pandemic, China is one of the successful countries which
Rachael Dias R<3 achael Dias R<3 achael Dias <3
Does AI Help With Curing Mental Illnesses?
A few mental health apps and programs have already combined AI, for example, Woebot is an appbased mood tracker and chatbot that combines AI and principles from cognitive behavioral therapy. These Chatbots can converse with a person in real time. This AI is intended to address cravings
According to Peter Foltz, a research professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, AI assisted analysis of data could aid patients in making faster and more accurate diagnoses, allowing patients to begin treatment sooner. According to Foltz, AI enabled programs could allow clinicians to remotely follow up with their patients, alerting them to issues or changes that occur between appointments and assisting them in incorporating that information into treatment plans.
-Trisha John
In over two years, especially after the unexpected breakout of Covid19, nearly every part of the medical industry has been propelled into a new era of care delivery. Upended by this crisis, the healthcare industry had to find new ways to safely provide quality care to patients. Interestingly enough, this has particularly become prevalent in the mental health field. Dr. Ellen Lee, assistant professor of psychiatry, University of California San Diego, Practitioners depend heavily on self reported symptoms and medical history from patients. Artificial intelligence(AI) can assist researchers in better assessing the heterogeneity of psychiatric disorders. AI could help clinicians make the most of the time they do have with patients while also bridging any gaps in access.
Lyssn, a software company based in the United Kingdom and the United States, provides clinics and universities with technologies to boost quality control and training.
This AI is intended to address cravings and urges while also assisting the individual in developing self awareness in terms of thought patterns, mood-related thinking, anxiety, and depression. They're free and accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they help to eliminate the stigma of seeking treatment. As to if used as a stand-alone treatment or as a complement to more conventional counseling, chatbots offer additional therapeutic content. Another mental health clinic called Ieso is using AI to evaluate the language used in its therapy sessions through natural-language processing (NLP) a method where machines process transcripts. Technology companies have taken notice and are providing clinics with tools to help them better understand the conversation between therapists and clients
AI is observedto improve mental health equity and access, particularly for LGBTQ youth who exist at the crossroads of identities, who already face inequity and discrimination in their daily lives. Despite all of AI's potential benefits, there are several significant barriers to its use in mental health care. Patient engagement is a critical factor that determines the success of smartphone apps and chatbots. Furthermore, developers and researchers must ensure that these tools are equipped with appropriate safeguards for high risk patients.
But what does this exactly mean for the future of AI and mental health? According to John Torous, MD, director of the digital psychiatry division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the future of AI mainly lies in the research of various mental illnesses. Sorting through data to discover new patterns that may aid in our understanding of how mental illnesses develop, spread, and how they can be prevented. AI algorithms and models are only as good as the data they're built on. The aim of building data on diverse types of patients, from different racial, ethnic and sociodemographic backgrounds is still yet to be met.
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Talking from the security of your own home may even make it easier for you to open up about your problems.
Suppose that your AI therapist does resemble an actual human being as much as humanly possible (pun intended). It has been developed to
Imagine yourself at your most vulnerable, lying down on a couch, and confronting all your traumas, fears, insecurities. Ah yes, this is a turning point in your life, with you confronting your life long inner demons, as your deep-rooted intergenerational issues come bubbling to the surface and you’re ready to tackle them head on. You’re baring your soul to your therapist. Only that your ‘therapist’, is a...well not a warmblooded mammal to say the least. The robot-like creature (to put it simplistically) that is examining you may look like a human being. Sure, it stands upright, akin to homo sapiens, bearing four moving limbs, even if they are hard and made of metal alloys. It even has a face, with eyes and a mouth. Cold, lifeless eyes, but eyes, nonetheless, gazing into the depths of your soul, using its
Can AI Take Over The Role of Psychologists And Therapists?
superhuman, digital, speedy, ‘billions of gigabytes data processing-within-milliseconds’ brain trying to figure out where your brain ‘wiring’ was faulty. A hard, stiff mouth not hardened due to age, or anger or any human emotions, but hardened from the steel, cast iron and aluminum used to manufacture it and the crisscrossed wires behind it operating its opening and closing motions. Imagine that metallic mouth opening wide to tell you what your diagnosis is, and instead of hearing them, all you see are either blindingly white teeth (because what robot consumes excessive caffeine?)or there is just a gaping black hole, containing inhumane horrors within.
Fajr Basit
Also, as per respondents, the whole point of therapy is to unburden yourself to someone who could empathize with you, relate to your situation, and to quote another respondent, “give you much needed validation”, having been through the very human experience called ‘life’. Somehow those factory conceived, production-line borne creatures with their calculated “uhhmms” followed by nods every five seconds or so don’t qualify as validation, according to respondents.
you’re stupid? How fast were the wires whirring underneath that sleek side parted bun? All these questions manifest as obstacles in your path to getting the therapy you need.
Contrast that against what it would feel like if it was a warm blooded human being, with smile lines around their eyes and mouth, remnant of laughs they had guffawed, tears they had shed. Imagine they looked within your soul with those eyes that had beheld numerous horrors and resemble real human voices, touch, even look almost like a human-(picture the most professionally dressed mannequin you’ve ever seen, complete with high heels, a pencil skirt and a neat hair bun). It even has a soothing, stutter-free, honey like(albeit electronic)voice, that swaddles you like a warm blanket on a cold day. However, as you start talking about your issues you felt you had buried deep a long time ago, a slight feeling of nervous apprehension starts creeping up your spine. You wonder what lies behind that stone cold white exterior. Can it sense your thoughts? Can it sense that you’re hiding crucial information about that thing from your childhood which is the underlying reason behind all your mental health issues? Will it somehow manipulate your brain, so you end up revealing your darkest, deepest secrets to it, ones that you dare not even think to your self and make you forget all you had revealed to them as soon as you said it? What is it thinking right now? Does it think
To conclude, AI cannot truly replicate the rich emotional experiences that a human being brings to therapy. To quote a respondent, “how would AI know the delicate balance between validating and telling you what you need to hear, versus being honest with you”? This truly highlights the main issue with AI, that it cannot only be programmed a certain way, i.e. either to validate clients or to be honest with them, at the expense of depriving them of the validation they need. This to a great extent, is an entirely human feat that AI will not be capable of until decades later.
AI cannot truly replicate the rich humanexperiencesemotionalthatabeingbringstotherapy.
majesties of the world, and nodding gently, spoke with a mouth that over the years had uttered both praise and folly, “I once knew a brave young woman who went through some terrible things, but she overcame them with a bit of help and went on to live a happy life. That girl will be you, and I will tell every person with struggles like yours to look up to you”. Picture a gentle smile from their lips, and an empathetic touch from that person, placing a hand on your shoulder, slowly lulling you to peace. A hand that had held and been held by loved ones, a hand that had been shaken by both friends and foes alike, attached with fingers and a wrist that a lover had slid a ring or a corsage onto, a hand with actual blood flowing through its veins rather than a bony, skeletal structure with electrons, belonging to a mirthless, soulless machine. Visualize its cold ,steely aluminum caresses back and forth your shoulder, accompanied by electronic beeps telling you, “you...meep....morp...need...more...meep ...morp....hippocampal...zeeep....introsp ection..”. Guaranteed ,your AI therapist may not speak this way, but rest assured that is surely how they must ‘think’. This thought should make a normal human being shudder.
Additionally, as highlighted in this article, an AI, no matter how advanced will never have the rich, diverse emotions, experiences, feelings, thoughts, cognition, many of which humans gain from making mistakes; the fundamental human quality of being imperfect, which gives us wisdom beyond that of any AI therapist.
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“Our intelligence is what makes us human, and AI is an extension of that quality.” –Yann LeCun
Therapists use platforms such as Zoom, Google meet and Facetime to provide services, the choice of platform depended on client’s preference, reliability, and ease of use. however due to this sudden shift to a fairly novel method of therapy, many mental health therapists were also prone to burnout.
The pandemic was cruel to some, and when there were no physical therapy sessions, teletherapy came to the rescue. The concept of teletherapy grew exponentially during the pandemic due to its need and importance in difficult times, and over 76% of physical therapy shifted to computerized therapy to follow distancing protocols (Robledo Yamamoto et al., 2021). Teletherapy are digital sessions of therapy for individuals, conducted by professionals to help people who are not able to physically attend Therapy. Though digital, teletherapy observed similar results to physical therapy proving its effectiveness. However, the stereotypes around teletherapy did not seem to vanish since people and even therapists were new to this concept. Therapists found it difficult and had concerns over building
rapport and confidence over a vide call quite absurd.
Technical problems like slow Internet connection and video glitches can make the therapy session feel less personal and stressful. Some people who cannot fully express themselves at home may have difficulties communicating openly in the fear of being overheard. These problems can be sorted out through the course of the sessions finding alternate solutions that can work for both sides.
-Megha Varshini and Andrea Jebel
Teletherapy: Therapy on - the Go!
Another crucial factor on Teletherapy is that as time progress and general situations worsens, the amount of people needing therapy may not be a smaller sample anymore, with the distancing rules and a shortage of professionals compared to real world
Designing the ‘therapy atmosphere’ was a rather difficult task to accomplish digitally, therapists usually decorate therapy rooms with calming décor, art pieces to create a ‘safer’ vibe, and in the case of children, the décor would be catered to their preferences. However, accomplishing this vibe was difficult in teletherapy. Another huge drawback in teletherapy was for therapists who cater art, music, and play therapies, they had to research new ways to provide their services in and effective manner digitally. Apart from video call therapies, the pandemic also experienced a rise in the development and use of mental heath apps. These apps are a good alternative but cannot completely replace an actual therapy session, it is cost-effective, but it was observed to be less efficient than therapy provided by a professional, however this does not change the fact that Mental health apps, fills the gap in mental
health treatment, and is accessible to everyone and at any time preferred. Mental health apps are a potential and effective way to access mental health interventions due to the shortage of experts in the field and low availability of professionals in rural areas. Research suggests that most adults and teens facing issue with mental health do not seek professional help, therefore mental health apps are a good alternative to physical therapy. Online therapy apps provide therapy to people who cannot afford actual therapy sessions. Having someone just to listen to your problems is all someone needs to get the weights off their backs and make them feel better.
population, it may not be feasible to attend an actual physical therapy session. Covid has brought new problems like loneliness due to the lack to Human contact. As time progresses we need to progress with it. Based on the situation we are now stuck in this is the best solution we can come up with. Therefore, the development of Teletherapy is an important achievement and a was muchneeded development in the field of psychology.
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- Aazim Faiz
Why Are We So Afraid of Artificial Intelligence?
Recently various individuals have been talking about how the potential applications of artificial intelligence could be something we should be worried about. Their argument comes from two different places. On one hand, they see AI as one of the most fundamental transformative technologies that we have ever seen in the history of mankind, and on the other hand, that transformative power is something we should fear and be wary about. However, fear of the unknown has always been the case with technology from the wheel to the internet. So, is AI something we should be scared of? The fears of AI seem to stem from a few common causes: general anxiety about machine intelligence, concerns about super intelligence, putting the power of AI into the wrong people’s hands, and general
-Cheryl Anthony
concern and caution when it comes to new technology. or the Terminator movie series. People don’t like machines that get too smart because we fear we can’t control it. This popular representation of AI gone bad is causing a general wariness in the public surrounding the development of intelligent systems technologies. The fear is generally surrounding the unknown that as AI systems are becoming more intelligent and human intelligence surrounding these systems is increasing, these two unknowns don’t really give us a clear direction for where things could go. The big counterargument to all of this is that we are still much farther away from achieving super AI than we really think we are. While a lot of the technology is moving quickly to realizing goals of narrow AI, there are parts that aren’t working
particularly well. Data is still the cornerstone of AI, and a lot of it is still messy and dirty. Additionally, an AI would not be concerned over taking over the world, this is because it doesn’t require thinking about how human psychology works, it’s about something much simpler. There is a fundamental misconception that the end result of AI will be something that thinks like a human, and that’s where the risk of it doing something human like genocide or world domination comes from. Which basically means the scientists are building something that could either be a good person or a bad person, which is irrational. Take the case of the film Transcendence for example (a truly awful movie, in my opinion) the first thing the AI-infused consciousness of the main character does is start manipulating stocks and shares and demanding more power to expand itself. But why?I mean why didn’t it start off making a really good job of correcting everyone’s spelling on the Internet (auto-correct),
The idea that an AI could be super intelligent beyond human comprehension is perfectly plausible because computers can do things faster (and more of them) than our brains can. But the idea that the result of all that intelligence will be to do things that human intellects deem to be worthwhile is an egotistical guess. Take the example of do.whataguyimpressdrivedon’thumansonwhatdoTheycomputer-controlleddriverless,cars.usebasicAIsystems,asmanymachinestoday.Anddotheydo?Theyfocusdrivingmuchbetterthanarecapable.Whattheydo?Theydon’trecklesslyfasttogirlsortailgatetheinfrontbecausethey’reinbadmood.Theyjustdotheyweredesignedto
or creating a better form of spreadsheet? Why would it have human desires? It’s not actually human.
So don’t fear AI, we shouldn’t automatically assume we’re done for when AI comes along. okay?
Arthur C. Clarke
“Before you become too entranced with gorgeous gadgets and mesmerizing video displays, let me remind you that information is not knowledge, knowledge is not wisdom, and wisdom is not foresight. Each grows out of the other, and we need them all.”
- Suha Haider
However, the idea that AI could replace therapists seems absurd to me. I also think this minimizes the credit we give to psychologists and psychiatrists. Just imagine going for your therapy session and your therapist has been fired and now you have to talk to a robot. What are we supposed to assume? Does the robot know the patient's history, does it understand the depth of cringe the patients feel when they remember how they were at 18?
Another important thing that needs to be taken into consideration is; licensing. Being a psychology student I know how important it is to be licensed and how much of a struggle it is at the same time. Professionals have to wait almost a year before they have been provided with their permit to work. Different countries have different licencing, so are all the robots going to have permits as well? It would only be right to, as professionals have been facing this hurdle for years.
Humans Any day Over technology
I think even with all the features of AI such as facial recognition, language understanding etc nothing beats a professional therapist who can understand your body language when you are avoiding a topic and will know when the time is ready for you to open up with the right cues.
For someone who struggles using a basic feature such as Word Document, I really can't imagine trusting and opening up to a robot. Okay, to start, I want to make it clear that I’m no Ted Krazynski with some personal vendetta against the rise of technology. I love a good AI invention, the Roomba (automated vacuum cleaner) being one of my favorites
However, even these positives can be refuted, assuming that AI therapists don't have any background knowledge about a culture, they won't necessarily be able to understand where one is coming from and if the patient's culture has impacted them or not.
However, I can try to be unbiased and think of the positives of having AI therapists. Not many come to mind but I think an interesting factor is that AI therapists will never get tired or emotionally exhausted. I think a hard thing about being a therapist is not getting impacted by all the stories you hear about your patients, in the case of AI that will never be the case. AI therapists will also never bring in biases they have about patients about their culture.
All in all, I don't think AI will be able to replace the role that a therapist plays. Technology hasn't been able to replicate human emotions as of yet and I don’t think it will be able to either.
It's also important to consider something like this takes a lot of people out of their jobs, we want technology to enhance people's lives not be replacing people :)
Seba Gem (Editor-InChief) Amal Jadoon Ammar Ansari Kishleen Sethi (Creative-Leader) Jessica Varghese Saloni Dalvi Syra Hussain
Editors & Designers
Artists Collaborations Art Club Nithya Rajeev & Janna Khalaf Aazim Faiz Rachael Dias Writers Andrea Jebel Cheryl Anthony Fajr Basit Megha Varshini Negin Naghshineh Suha Haider Trisha John
Giota, K. G., & Kleftaras, G. (2014). Mental health apps: innovations, risks and ethical considerations.E Health Telecommunication Systems and Networks,2014
Ducharme, J (2019, November 20) Artificial Intelligence Could Help Solve America’s Impending Mental Health Crisis. Time; Time. https://time.com/5727535/artificial intelligence psychiatry/
Lindsey, H (n d ) AI’s push to understand psychiatry research has the potential to tackle mental illness Business Insider. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/how ai is advancing psychiatry medicine to tackle mental illness 2021 9#:~:text=AI%20enables%20researchers%20to%20better
Robledo Yamamoto, F , Voida, A , & Voida, S (2021) From Therapy to Teletherapy: Relocating Mental Health Services Online. Proceedings of the ACM on Human Computer Interaction, 5(CSCW2), 1 30.
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References
HealthITSecurity. (2021, April 23). What Role Could Artificial Intelligence Play in Mental Healthcare? HealthITAnalytics https://healthitanalytics com/features/what role could artificial intelligence play in mental healthcare